Last year, a day after Halloween, I saw firsthand the result of the most hectic hailstorm I’ve ever endured. Springfield Lakes, Greenbank and a few surrounding Brisbane suburbs got absolutely smoked. It was reported in February that the damage bill had reached at least $805 million. More recent reports have estimated it to be over $1 billion.

First Solar has announced plans to establish a new 3.3 GW manufacturing facility in India. Representing an investment of US$684 million (AU$950 million), the move demonstrates the thin-film PV manufacturer’s confidence in India’s solar growth and the increasingly favourable policy environment for domestic solar PV production.

PV’s contribution to a cleaner future can go well beyond generating emissions-free energy, but maximising the opportunity is not always straightforward. Ragna Schmidt-Haupt, partner at Everoze and a board member at Skyray, argues that investors and lenders have to start making decisions today to fulfil the required disclosure regulations and make sure their fleet has a positive impact on biodiversity. The key challenge is to weigh the techno-economic-ecological risks, opportunities, costs and revenues.

The Indian government has created a strong balance between industrial policy as well as trade policy, which provides companies like First Solar an ideal opportunity to establish their manufacturing facilities in India, according to First Solar chief executive officer Mark Widmar.

Adani, Reliance New Energy, Jindal India Solar and Shirdi Sai Electricals have been put on a shortlist for India’s production-linked incentive scheme for high-efficiency PV module manufacturing. The list includes 14 other companies vying for the incentives.

In the third of a series of four blogs, solar pioneer Philip Wolfe lists the world’s largest solar parks. In these articles, a “solar park” is defined as a group of co-located solar power plants.

As solar deployment increases, concerns about price cannibalisation continue to be more and more relevant. Large-scale solar generation during midday hours may result in curtailment or unprofitable wholesale power prices. As supply increases, the economic viability of solar PV projects could fall into question.

The addition of 521 MW between April to June was India’s highest ever rooftop solar capacity installed in a single quarter.

The state-owned engineer and solar EPC Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned a 25 MW project at NTPC’s Simhadri thermal power station, in Andhra Pradesh.

WePower’s Kaspar Kaarlep offers a closer look at how we must use data to avert the worst of climate change.